Naas (Kildare) 2-12
Summerhill (Meath) 0-8

Paul Keane reports from the Kildare training centre

A STRONG FINISH at the Kildare training centre in Hawkfield secured a slightly flattering 10-point Leinster club SFC quarter-final win for hosts Naas.

Joe Murphy’s side arrived as favourites and, truth be told, could have grabbed a couple more goals but still couldn’t breathe out until the final five minutes or so.

Meath teams have struggled in this competition in the last 20 years since Dunshaughlin won it in 2002 and Summerhill, who beat Tullamore with a late smash and grab in Round 1, put in a decent performance for three quarters of the game.

They reduced a five-point half-time deficit to just two with 49 minutes on the clock but didn’t score again as Naas took over with an unanswered 1-5.

Eoghan Prizeman’s 49th minute goal for the three-in-a-row Kildare champions was a significant score and appeared to break the back of Summerhill’s challenge.

Veteran Eamonn Callaghan, who turns 41 this month, came on and scored two points during the late Naas blitz while county attacker Darragh Kirwan notched his third point of the game too.

The result means that from the 33 games played by Meath SFC winners in Leinster since 2002, they have now lost 20 of them.

Naas will take on St Loman’s of Mullingar in the provincial semi-finals in a fortnight and the expectation will be that they will face old rivals Kilmacud Crokes in a provincial final.

Summerhill will kick themselves for the 12 wides they blasted with nine of those coming in the first-half.

They got off to a poor start when the hosts registered 1-2 without response, Sean Hanafin nailing their eighth minute goal after a long delivery towards Dermot Hanafin broke kindly.

Kirwan, dual player James Burke and the excellent Alex Beirne all tagged on points for Naas who hit the interval with a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.

Conor Frayne’s 29th minute point for Summerhill was their only one from play in the half.

They were better after the break and outscored Naas by 0-5 to 0-2 between the restart and the 49th minute.

Eoghan Frayne was their main man with three converted frees and a beauty from play from out on the left wing off his left foot.

They couldn’t push on though and, truth be told, Naas were unfortunate not to have scored more goals earlier with Kirwan twice thwarted in the first-half.

And when Prizeman blasted to the net from the left of goals for Naas it effectively killed the contest.

Beirne probably should have struck their third goal soon after when Naas turned the ball over and broke sharply but he opted for a point.

Scorers for Naas: Sean Hanafin 1-0, Eoghan Prizeman 1-0, Alex Beirne 0-3, Darragh Kirwan 0-3 (0-1f), Eamonn Callaghan 0-2 (0-2f), Jack McKevitt 0-1, James Burke 0-1, Kevin Cummins 0-1 (0-1f), Luke Mullins 0-1 (0-1f).

Scorers for Summerhill: Eoghan Frayne 0-6 (0-5f), Conor Frayne 0-1, Barry Dardis 0-1.

Naas

1. Luke Mullins

2. Cathal Daly, 18. Conor McCarthy, 4. Mark Maguire

3. Brian Byrne

7. Eoghan Prizeman, 6. Eoin Doyle, 5. Paddy McDermott

8. Paul McDermott, 9. James Burke

10. Alex Beirne, 20. Darragh Kirwan, 12. Jack McKevitt

14. Dermot Hanafin, 30. Sean Hanafin

Subs:

• 11. Eamonn Callaghan for Dermot Hanafin (42)
• 17. Tom Browne for McKevitt (42)
• 23. Neil Aherne for Paul McDermott (55)
• 13. Kevin Cummins for Kirwan (59)

Summerhill

1. Sean Muddiman

2. Iarla Hughes, 17. Padraig Jennings, 4. John Lavelle

5. Adam McDonnell, 6. Ross Ryan, 7. Padhraig Geraghty

8. Adam Flanagan, 9. Micheal Byrne

10. David Larkin, 20. Diarmuid McCabe, 13. Conor Lyons

11. Eoghan Frayne, 14. Conor Frayne, 15. Barry Dardis

Subs:

• 12. Kevin Ryan for Lyons (41)
• 21. David Dalton for Conor Frayne (55)
• 19. Jamie O’Shea for McDonnell (58)
• 25. Ben Moran for Jennings (61)

Referee: Alan Coyne (Westmeath).

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